Mazandarani mythology

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Mazandaran is a mythical land that has more epic and romantic legends and myths than any place in Iran, which is the most important land of the cultural and identity puzzle of the Iranian people due to its location between the Alborz Mountains, Hyrcanian forests and Caspian Sea. [1] Mazanderani mythology are based on Mazanderani people's faith in mythical and semi-mythical creatures and bearers of good and evil with the development of society. These stories were transmitted orally among the local people for many centuries. A large group of these mythical creatures became a part of Mazandaran folklore as separate stories.

Contents

List of Mazanderani mythical creatures

Bom Sari Kija

Bom Sari Kija (translation: "the girl on the roof") was a malign supernatural female, in function somewhat resembling a lulu khorkhore, who was used to frighten children into good behaviour: in the folklore of Mazandaran, it was said that children who behaved badly would be abducted by this being. [2]

Dawalpa

Dawalpa was an evil being which captured people by winding its flexible, leathery, strap-like legs around their necks,shoulders or waists. Such captives would then be enslaved; forced, on pain of being clawed or half-strangled, to carry the demon around on their backs until they died of exhaustion - at which point the monster would be obliged to seek a fresh victim. This being is best-known outside Iran as the Old Man of the Sea (Šayk al-Baḥr) as a result of the popularity of translations of the tales recounting the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. One of Sinbad’s voyages features both the noxious entity and the traditional means of defeating him - namely making him drunk/ataxic enough to be dislodged (and preferably killed) by his unfortunate victim. [3] [2]

Reera

Reera was a beautiful fairy woman believed to have haunted the Hyrcanian forests.

Mazandaran in the Shahnameh

Mazandaran is the abode of great Divs in the Shahanameh. Devils with the title: Div-e Sepid, Akvan Div, and Arzhang Div have been mentioned as Shah of Mazandaran. [4] In Mazandaran province today, there are places named Div Asiyab, Div Cheshmeh, Div Kela, and Div Hamam. [5]

The location of Mazandaran should not be confused with Mazandaran province, but it may have been a small area in this province. Some scholars believe that Mazandaran was a region in India, others believe that Mazandaran is in the Levant or Egypt.[ citation needed ]

See also

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Atropa pallidiflora is a close relative of the infamous deadly nightshade and, like it, is an extremely poisonous plant, containing a variety of tropane alkaloids valued in medicine for their anticholinergic, antispasmodic and mydriatic properties and deliriant in excess. Atropa pallidiflora is the least well-known of the four currently accepted species of Atropa and is endemic to the remarkable Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests of Northern Iran, which can boast all the species of Atropa currently recognised, with the sole exception of the strictly Ibero-Maghrebi Atropa baetica. The binomial Atropa pallidiflora was published by Eva Schönbeck-Temesy in volume 100 ('Solanaceae') of Karl Heinz Rechinger's monumental Flora Iranica in 1972. The specific name pallidiflora signifies 'bearing flowers of a pale, wan or washed-out hue' and, while appropriate, is not especially evocative, given that the flowers of most Atropa species are far from vivid. The flowers of A. pallidiflora, like those of A.baetica, vary from greenish to yellow, but, as the designation 'having pallid flowers' might suggest, the yellow in question is a dingy greenish-yellow that is far from ornamental. The geographical term 'Hyrcanian' in the common name signifies that the plant is native to what was once the satrapy of Hyrcania, the name of which derives from an Iranian root meaning 'wolf' : Hyrcania is thus the 'Land of Wolves'. The name is an apt one, since the Hyrcanian forests have long been known as a hunting ground of legendary richness and beauty : the lush forests could support an abundance of large, mammalian herbivores, which in turn could support an abundance of apex predators - notably the wolf, but also the Persian leopard and even the tiger. The word 'Hyrcanian' will be familiar to any diligent reader of the works of William Shakespeare, as an epithet of the proverbially savage Caspian Tiger, known to the dramatist from his reading of the works of various Latin authors - who, in turn, were familiar with the Ancient Greek coinage 'Hyrcania' and the lands adjoining the Caspian Sea to which the place name referred. Regarding the richness of the Hyrcanian flora - of which Atropa pallidiflora is a noteworthy element - it is worth mentioning that the name of the modern Iranian province of Golestan has the delightful meanings of 'Rose Garden' and 'Land of Flowers'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazandaran (Shahnameh)</span>

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References

  1. "گرد فراموشی بر اسطوره‌ها و افسانه‌های مازندران" . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  2. 1 2 "ردپای موجودات افسانه ای در مازندران" . Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  3. "DAVĀL-PĀ(Y)". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VII. November 18, 2011. pp. 128–129.
  4. Omidsalar, Mahmoud (November 28, 2011). "DĪV". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VII. pp. 428–431.
  5. "حمام دیوها مازندران با چشم اندازهای خارق العاده" . Retrieved March 28, 2022.